Reign Check

two eyes.

“So you think you can still fit in here”—he glanced around—“pretending you’re a normal sixteen-year-old girl?”

“That is the general idea. And since I was a normal sixteen-year-old girl until last week, I’m surprisingly good at it. Feels very natural, actually.”

Confusion now clouded his expression. “But … why would you want to do that? You’re royalty — a princess—and yet you’d choose a life like this?”

“Didn’t realize I had a choice. Besides, this is what I know, and believe me, I’m perfectly fine not living in a castle all the time. It’s not like I’m just going to give it up for a tiara and … uh, whatever else demon princesses get.”

Still he looked confused. “Aren’t you afraid?”

“Of you?”

“No, not me. Of … of the prophecy.”

Hadn’t expected that answer. “What prophecy?”

“The one about you.”

I blinked at him. “What are you talking about?”

That earned me a skeptical look. “You seriously don’t know about it?”

“There’s a prophecy about me?”

He seemed genuinely shocked I didn’t know. “Yes. It’s what prompted me to come here in the first place. What made me believe there was no time to waste.”

The only thing I knew about prophecies was that they were predictions of the future. I had my very own prophecy? That was a surprise. I mean, I didn’t even have a blog or a Facebook page, although I was getting to those eventually.

“What does it say?” I asked, unable to help my curiosity.

“All I know is it’s a new one. And it’s raised some immediate and considerable … concerns. Otherwise the news of it never would have reached as far as my kingdom as quickly as it did.”

A strange shiver went down my arms. “What do you mean, it’s raised some concerns?”

“That you’re the first Darkling in a thousand years has already put everyone on edge,” he said. “Enough for me personally to come and find out as much as I can about you. The prophecy only adds fuel to the fire.”

“I can’t believe this.”

He seemed unsure what to make of my reaction. I could see it wasn’t what he’d been expecting. Maybe he wanted me to deny it or get angry?

He turned away from me. “Perhaps I shouldn’t have said anything.”

I grabbed his arm. “No, I need to know everything you know about this, Rhys. You’re making it sound serious.”

“I don’t know any more about it. My advisers learned of it only the day before yesterday from a source in the Underworld, which means it is spreading throughout the rest of the dark worlds as we speak. Not only the news that the prophecy exists, but that the rumors of King Desmond having a half-human daughter are true.”

A wave of anxiety went through me, and I released my tight hold on his arm. I was about to ask him a dozen more questions but stopped at the pale look on his face. He watched me warily, as if waiting for my scary demon- girl reaction.

“Are you afraid of me?” I asked. It sounded stupid as soon as I said it.

He hesitated. “No. Of course not.”

My eyes widened. “You’re lying. You’re afraid!”

“I’m a king,” he said, scowling at me. “I’m not afraid of anything.”

“Yeah, you’re a king, but you’re also only sixteen. I’m sixteen and I’m afraid of lots of things. I have a list.”

“We’re different.”

“You’re right about that.” I knew he wasn’t going to help me. I hissed out a frustrated sigh. “Do me a favor and don’t follow me, okay?”

Without waiting for a reply, I went into the nearest bathroom and splashed cold water on my face, staring at my reflection and trying not to think. Unfortunately, not thinking wasn’t something I could control that easily.

My face was now flushed, which brought out the freckles on my nose that I hated. I pushed my hair back behind my ears and rubbed my lips together. At the moment, I looked fairly normal, all things considered.

Maybe Rhys had only been trying to get a reaction out of me — trying to get me to sprout my wings so I wouldn’t be able to show my face in school ever again. Getting all emotional was one way to bring out my demon side. Then I’d be just as much of a freak as he was.

I mean, who had to be a king when they were so young? I’d almost become queen of the Shadowlands — even now, if my father died, I’d automatically have to take the throne — but it wasn’t something I’d ever choose for myself. And why would Rhys, as king, leave his world to come to mine just so he could poke at me like I was his own personal dead frog to dissect? He could have simply sent one of his advisers in his place if he was oh-so- concerned.

If there was a prophecy about me, my father would have told me about it by now, right?

And it’s not like I wasn’t safe. The Shadowlands were surrounded by a magic-infused barrier, controlled by my father, that protected the faery and human worlds from the demon ones — the “dark worlds,” as they were called. Since he was king, my father couldn’t leave the castle because maintaining the barrier was his prime responsibility.

I closed my eyes and concentrated.

Michael, where are you? I need to see you.

Since Michael had been my officially designated “servant” the first time I’d met him, we had this telepathy thing between us. However, it didn’t work long distance. I had no idea where he was at the moment. Probably at my father’s castle. In other words, nowhere close to me.

I desperately wanted to see him again. He’d know what to do. Also, I just really missed him. He was someone who accepted me exactly as I was — horns and all — and I felt totally safe when I was with him, unlike how I felt around Rhys.

I stayed in the bathroom trying in vain to contact Michael for so long that, by the time I emerged, biology was over. Of all my teachers, Mr. Crane was probably the coolest and most easygoing, so I hoped I could make up the assignment another day.

After scanning the hall for Rhys, who was nowhere to be seen, I went to my other morning classes and formulated my plan for how to deal with the faery king. Even though he’d tried to hide it, I’d definitely seen a flicker of fear in his eyes. He didn’t know what I was capable of. I’d use that to my advantage and scare him back to Faeryville. It was worth a try.

It felt like forever before lunch arrived, but when it did I entered the cafeteria, grabbed a sandwich and a piece of fruit — an apple a day keeps nasty prophecies away — and started walking over to the center table that the Royal Party called home.

Despite my recent friendship with Melinda, I was still considered an outsider. At least, that’s the impression I always got from Melinda’s, well … ladies-in-waiting was probably the best way to describe the brunette Larissa and redheaded Brittany. The three of them had been closer friends before I’d arrived. Now Melinda either spent time hanging out with me or going to her after-school dance lessons — her latest obsession.

I didn’t get the usual fiery glares from them when I approached the table. They were too busy gawking at the cute guy seated next to Melinda.

It was Rhys, of course. Melinda had obviously swooped in at her first opportunity and snagged him. For a moment I tried to look at him the way she probably did. He was inarguably good-looking and had an effortless confidence about him that helped him stand out in a crowd. However, the moment his gaze shifted to me I could see the gold flecks in his eyes appear to swirl, as if I bothered him on some deeper level he couldn’t hide — at least not from me.

“There she is,” Rhys said with a nod in my direction.